UNITED NATIONS: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday slammed as “unacceptable” the deaths of Palestinians seeking food aid in Gaza, a spokesman said, calling the loss of life in the territory “unthinkable.”
“We are witnessing the unthinkable loss of life in Gaza (and) the secretary-general condemns the loss of lives and injuries of Palestinians seeking aid,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“It is unacceptable civilians are risking and in several instances losing their lives just trying to get food.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Gaza’s Rafah city recorded 27 deaths on Tuesday, matching a toll given by rescuers after Israeli forces opened fire near an aid centre.
“Early this morning, the 60-bed Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah received a mass casualty influx of 184 patients. This includes 19 cases who were declared dead upon arrival and eight more who died due to their wounds shortly after,” the ICRC said.
The organisation added in a statement that survivors of the early morning incident said they had been “trying to reach an assistance distribution site”.
Gaza’s civil defence agency earlier said 27 people were killed after Israeli troops fired on a crowd near a US-backed aid distribution centre.
Israel investigating attack on aid seekers
The Israeli military said some people moving towards the aid centre had left the designated route, prompting “warning fire”.
“After the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects,” a military statement added.
Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised statement that the “suspects… were approaching in a way that endangered… the safety of the soldiers”.
“The incident is being investigated”, he added.
The ICRC said Tuesday’s shooting caused “the highest number of weapon-wounded patients received in a single incident” since the field hospital opened more than a year ago.
“The unprecedented scale and frequency of recent mass casualty incidents treated at the field hospital is deeply worrying and illustrates the harrowing reality that civilians in Gaza are being forced to endure,” it added.
A similar shooting incident occurred near the same aid centre on Sunday, when rescuers reported 31 killed by Israeli gunfire and a military source acknowledged “warning shots were fired towards several suspects”.
102 aid seekers killed in Gaza
The ICRC had said it received 179 patients that day, including at least 21 who were pronounced dead.
According to the Gaza Government Media Office, Israel has killed 102 aid seekers and injured 490 others at aid points in Rafah and the Netzarim Corridor over the past eight days.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk described the attack as “unconscionable” and a “war crime”.
“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable,” Turk said.
“Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law.”
Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, said the international community must act.
“These are people facing starvation. Wilfully impeding access to food may also constitute a war crime,” he said as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Since Israel broke the ceasefire in March, it has killed 4,240 Palestinians and wounded 12,860, according to the Health Ministry.
At least 58 Palestinians were killed and over 200 injured on Tuesday in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, pushing the overall death toll since October 7, 2023, to 54,510, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. – Agencies
